The Year of Living Gorgeously

May Birthstones: Emerald

From The Bride's Book (1938)

Who first beholds the light of day
In Spring's sweet flow'ry month of May
And wears an emerald all her life.
Shall be a loved and happy wife.

The gifts of this gem are happiness in love, victory over sin and trial and the power to render the wearer invisible if she be unmarried.  With the emerald, as with sapphires, one may wear the synthetic stone: for its colourful completement to the personality is quite as effective as that of the genuine emerald.

Once upon a time it was thought that the emerald foretold coming events and was an unfailing revealer of the truth.  It was also supposed to improve the memory, and make one an eloquent and convincing orator.

::

Unfortunately, the emerald stone has rather fallen out of fashion these days. The result is that there is precious little availble to buy in new trendy shapes, but there's a bargain to be had in the antique market if you are enamoured of its hue.

This fabulous bangle just screams Versace and glamorous designer bling. I think I'd have to wear it with a hot pink max dress by a pool...

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure about its power to make you invisible: this emerald green silk wrap from Rebecca London will help you stand out in the crowd on a beach. And coordinated to this bikini, I will foretell forthcoming events for you and guarantee you victory over sin or, rather, victorious sinning.

Happy *belated* birthday, May!

Bright Days Ahead

by Mary Jo Matsumoto

I warned you last month that I’d be back with lots of sunshiny fashions, and the time has now come to talk about yellow. Not that it’s breaking news--no other color has been so ubiquitous this season. Just today I was asked to write commentary about the slew of stars who’ve been wearing various shades of yellow on the red carpet. I won’t go into great detail, but I will say that unless you have the great fortune to have hair the color of spun pale golden silk or are one of the lucky ladies with a warm olive skin tone, it’s best to stay away from pastel yellow chiffon gowns.

The good news is that bright canary yellow is pretty easy for all skin tones and hair colors to wear. We could talk about some of the stand-out lemon yellow dresses of the season, but chances are you’ve already picked up some version already.

J. Crew rain hat; Anthropologie trapeze earrings; Rosie Bow belt

In case you’re shy about wearing yellow, you don’t have to wear it head-to-toe. There are plenty of great and affordable accessories that will let you stay in step with the color-me-yellow mood of the moment. Hats, belts, totes, and shoes are just the tip of the iceberg.

 

Since we’re talking about accessories, I should mention that I’ve been looking at and writing about this Jay Lane flower ring for over a month and still haven’t gotten tired of it! I just love the mix of a vintage style 60s enamel flower with shocking yellow. Plus it’s pretty…sigh. The Kenneth Jay Lane Yellow Flower Ring is available at www.etonline.com.

 

 

 

Moving on to confessions: one of my worst, most decadent vices is wearing designer sunglasses. I’m shameless about it, but I live in a place where it’s impossible to drive without them. Happily, I discovered a new affordable sunglass line this month and their shades are made in the same factory as Tom Ford’s high-end line. I’m in love with tons of their styles like the Avenue in Dijon. Check out www.sodaeyewear.com for more styles and information.

Wearing these espadrille flats around the house makes me feel like I’m on vacation. “Los Drillos” by Rubber Duck, are the creation of Danish-born designer Eik Braun Ottosen, who gives 10% of the production costs each year to Rubber Duck workers as a bonus—no shoe strings attached. “Los Drillos” come in many colors and designs, but I highly recommend the yellow Palms. There’s something very “weekend in the Mediterranean” about them, and the great thing is that they don’t cost a fortune and they’re unisex, so you can pick up one for yourself and one for your significant other, in hopes that he picks up on the holiday sensation. Shoes are available online at www.rubberduckbrand.com.

If all else fails, you can always sit the yellow craze out on a fiberglass stacking chair covered with yellow and lime poppies. These eye-popping Marimekko chairs just went on sale at Anthropologie and I’ve been trying to justify to myself why I need one.

 

 

 

 

At the very least, here’s hoping you’re able to get away to someplace warm and bright this summer. If you do, be sure and take some of Titan’s lightweight, durable, scratch-resistant and stylish 100% polycarbonate luggage with you. This super cool luggage comes in modern colors like red, yellow, black, silver, and champagne. Until this month, Titan was only available in Europe and Asia. Naturally, I’m partial to the yellow. You can find more information at www.titanluggageusa.com.

Wishing you many bright summer days in the coming months!

Last Call for May Photos

Some gorgeous, gorgeous photos have been entered this month (even if you're not thinking of entering give yourselves a treat by checking them out).

However if you have got a great photo which sums up 'May' to you then you've only got about 24 hours to enter it and win a fabulous prize.

Good luck!

It's fascinating seeing how the colours in the photo groups have changed from the soft greys and muted tones of January to May's vivid rainbow.

International Missing Children's Day

In the ongoing media frenzy that has highlighted Madeleine McCann's disappearance in Portugal at the beginning of this month, it is easy to forget that this little girl is only one element of a much larger picture.

It is estimated that over 210,000 people in the UK are reported missing each year, with around two thirds of that number under 18. 

Missing Persons is hoping as many people as possible will acknowledge International Missing Children’s Day (May 25), which aims to encourage the population to think about all the children still missing in Europe and around the world and to spread a message of hope and solidarity at international level to parents who have no news about their children and do not know where they are or what has become of them. The charity, which starts using its Missing People name instead the National Missing Persons Helpline as of May 25, has re-launched its official yellow charity ribbon as well as rolled out its first ever UK direct mailing to help find missing children.

The thoughts of us at Gorgeously are with Madeleine's parents, but also with the families and friends of the other missing people. To be missed is to be loved, and I hope that that will be a comfort and a cause for hope for all the thousands of individuals involved.

Image courtesy of Julie at Little Cotton Rabbits

The world's best strawberries

My mother, who came from the Piemonte region of Italy always used to prepare strawberries this way, so I suppose this must be an Italian or Piemontese recipe.

 

For me though these strawberries are the taste of my childhood summers and I can barely eat them prepared any other way.  And everyone I've ever served them to has agreed.

Take a punnet of strawberries, rinse them in a sieve or colander, remove the leaves and slice them into halves or quarters depending on the size of the strawberries. 

Put them in your prettiest serving dish (it doesn't matter if there's a bit of water clinging to them, but don't drown them), spoon over two tablespoons of granulated sugar and the juice of half a medium lemon.  Stir.

Leave them in the fridge overnight and you will be rewarded by soft strawberries dripping with the most delicious juices known to man.  Mysteriously, the acid of the lemon brings out the juices though it doesn't make them taste particularly lemony.

I love these eaten with cream, in trifle or poured over pavlova or for breakfast spooned over muesli with a spoonful of thick Greek yoghurt.

Another variation of the strawberries + sugar + acid trick is to substitute a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar for the lemon juice.  This has the same effect of bringing out the juices though this time it will taste as if you've doused your strawberries in a strange but delicious liqueur.

Entertaining Suggestions for the New Bride: Real Talkies at Home

A big party, although sometimes necessary, is always a bit unwieldy.  But it can be made a successful one. What sort of entertainment can you provide? Well here is a suggestion.  There has recently been invented a new machine which makes it possible to have talkies in the home, and certainly this offers a novel and thoroughly interesting way of entertaining a number of one's friends.  This machine can be bought, or it can be rented for an evening at a nominal price.  It is operated from an electric light plug and it can be run by anybody, since it is not a complicated affair. 

Most people like to go to the cinema at least occassionally, but there is hardly anyone who would not thoroughly enjoy sitting comfortably in the drawing room and seeing a good film, complete with music and talk.  Thus the bride who plans this form of entertainment for her guests can be certain they will have a good time.

The choice of films for the apparatus is large and varied.  There are news reels which are compilations of all the outstandingly interesting events of the month.  There are comedies, including animated cartoons of Felix the Cat.  And there are feature pictures, with such well known stars as Madeleine Carroll, Laddie Cliff and Jessie Matthews.  These reels can be hired for the evening and the cost for a full entertainment lasting about an hour and a half is approximately twenty-five shillings.

The Bride's Book, Edited by Dorothy Stone, March 1938, Chapter 22: Entertaining

May Photo Competition

It's here and not a moment too soon...

Same rules as usual.  Post up the photos which in your opinion most capture the essence of 'May' in this month's Flickr group and put yourselves in line for a superb prize. 

Washing up will never be a chore again with this beautiful 'Bottle and Watermelon' Teatowel from Atelier LZC, which celebrates all the birds and fruits and flowers and WINE of eating outside.

Not only do we have a a fabbalicious prize but we also have a fabbalicious judge.  MidCenturyJo - Eurovision fan and design guru from Desire to Inspire is the person you have to impress this month.  You've got until midnight on May 30th to enter and you can enter as many photos as you want.

Bonne chance!

For those of you interested

The night went with a bang.

Check out our party images here...

And check out the winner here.

I think the Ukraine were in with a chance. Watch this and weep.

All together: TANZEN!

May mayhem Part I

By Emmeline Johnston

For me, it is without doubt my busiest time of year... and probably my favourite time of year too... everything in the great outdoors is all fresh and unspoilt and it is the best time of year to be planting and seeing things zoom into life.  It is also the month of my birthday - but I shouldn't let that influence my judgement! 

Well, so much to do at this time - and so much to say too.  Probably most of all at this time of year I have been enjoying the explosion of colour that has hit me.  It is the time of tulips and wallflowers contrasting with the zingy bright green of clean new leaves and of course the blue of a bluebell wood.  No one does colour better than Sarah Raven whose catalogue I look at just to enjoy the juxtaposition of fuchsia with acid green with a brilliant blue with yellow and red...  her website does not unfortunately do this - but worth ordering her catalogue for it alone!   

Meanwhile things that have been dormant unfurl - I swear that walking in the woods I can literally hear the leaves squeezing themselves out of their buds...whilst some plants literally unfurl in another of natures mini-revivals.   Roadsides and woodlands really come alive now like no other time.  Bluebells are though over surprisingly early (well, they arrived early!)  along with wild garlic that if you can find is a good bit of free wild food.  I keep finding more and more references to 'wild food' so thought I would say a few words.  Pictured here, those of you that 'know your onions' will recognise the flower of the wild garlic as belonging to the 'Allium' or onion family.  In cooking, they are not as strong as cultivated garlic and you use the leaves... using  them as you would chives - a good idea being to chop them into an omelette. 

Back home, and I have finally had to take my phalanopsis orchid away from the hall.  For fresh flowers in the house this plant really has been value for money.  I ask you, how else can you spend £4.99 and have flowers from December until early May...got to be beautiful bargain of the year!     

May mayhem Part II

And then there is wisteria for sheer delight and also a great smell.  I have one planted over a steel pergola just outside my back door and during our wonderful April it was a delight to have the door open and the scent wafting through the house.  Here is a slightly different view on a wisteria flower than the traditional pendulous blossoms.   

And what then of the allotment? 

Well - I've turned very seedy!  I have been like a whirling dervish planting seeds like there is no tomorrow and I am pleased to say that I have lots of lovely little plants, some of which I have already planted out.  Do you remember those sweetpeas which I planted in January, well yesterday I cut my first flowers, just 5 - but there promises to be a great deal more to come.   Another first (and this will make Paola jealous!) is my asparagus.  I have had my first homegrown asparagus spears after ... wait for it... 3 years!  I sowed seeds 3 years ago and it takes this long before you can cut any of them.  Worth it though! For those of you that think damn, I should have planted some seeds, maybe for a container or even a window sill but have not done so, then many garden centres as well as online supplies such as Crocus offer the perfect solution.  Their tasty veg selection offers mini or 'plug' vegetables ready for you to grow to full size.  Perfect!